1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a skate with adjustable size.
Roller skates provided with a shoe with adjustable size are known and offer unquestionable advantages, especially if used for children, not only from the economic standpoint but also from the point of view of the practicality and convenience of being able to use a product for a much longer period.
Moreover, a sports shoe with adjustable size can be used by several people, even if they have different foot sizes, thus allowing to hire out skates even to users having different foot sizes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat No. 5,678,833 discloses a skate with in-line wheels whose length is adjustable and which has a rigid supporting frame for a plurality of wheels arranged in-line, a shell which includes a toe unit and a heel unit, and a first means, formed in the heel unit, for coupling to the frame. The heel unit has a sole slidingly connected to the base of the toe unit by means of a second engagement means.
The second engagement means comprises a screw, for the removable coupling of the base of the toe unit to a part of the frame, thus allowing the toe unit to slide with respect to the heel unit in a direction which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the skate. A cuff is connected to the heel unit by means of a pair of studs. The studs are connected to a sliding means provided on the two side walls of the toe unit.
Such prior art skate has a rather complex structure which increases the manufacturing costs. Moreover, adjusting the size of the skate is not a straightforward operation. The adjustment in fact requires some time, because it is necessary to first loosen the screw by means of a tool and then put the skate on to find the exact position of the heel unit with respect to the toe unit. Then, it is necessary to tighten the screw again, with the possibility of unwanted changes in the position of the various members.
A further drawback of such prior art adjustable skate is the lack of any visual indication of the size or length used: this entails that a user who has already performed a size adjustment cannot rapidly restore the exact original position but has to perform the same complicated procedures performed the first time.
IT-1,257,603 discloses a skate with in-line wheels comprising a monolithic shell and wheel support.
The shell is open upward and to the rear; a quarter is selectively and slidingly associated with the shell at the rear and a tongue is associated with the shell in an upward region.
The quarter has a rear grip handle for the user and has a brake which can be associated by snap action with a frame which is in turn associated with the support.
By acting on a pair of screws it is possible to vary the size of the skate by changing the axial position of the quarter with respect to the shell.
This type of adjustable-size sports shoe, however, has the main drawback that the adjustment of the skate size is obtained by moving the rear part of the shoe therefore shifting the position of the heel, and consequently there is an undesirable and disadvantageous variation of the position of the center of gravity with respect to the wheels.
That is an important drawback because almost all the weight of the body is transmitted to the ground through the resting region that corresponds to the heel, and a displacement of the heel can lead to adaptation difficulties in skating.
A further drawback of the above-described prior art skate is its complicated structure required to achieve both lateral support and mutual sliding of the various members.
A further drawback of the above-described prior art skate is that the size may be varied only by discrete amounts which approximately correspond to one foot size each and therefore the user may be unable to precisely adapt the skate to the size of his or her foot, having to do with an approximate adjustment by choosing the next larger size with respect to his or her exact size.
Other conventional skates with adjustable size have the drawback that the adjustment devices are arranged along the sides of the skate, in positions which often interfere with sports practice by partially protruding from the structure of the frame.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the above-described problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited prior art, by providing a skate with adjustable size, particularly an in-line roller-skate or an ice skate, whose size can be adjusted simply and straightforwardly while allowing optimum sports practice.
An important object of the invention is to provide a skate which provides for a substantially continuous adjustment of the size, so that the user can adapt the shoe to the exact dimensions of his or her foot and so as to also achieve optimum balance.
Another object is to provide a skate which provides for an immediate visualization of the size selected by the user.
Another object is to provide a skate which does not have protruding members which may limit its functionality during sports practice.
Another important object is to provide a skate which can be easily adjusted by the user without requiring additional tools or instruments.
Another object is to provide a skate which is simple and intuitive to use.
A further object of the invention is to provide a skate with adjustable size which is not substantially aesthetically different from conventional non adjustable skates.
A further object is to provide a structurally simple skate which can be produced at low manufacturing costs.
The above aim and objects, as well as other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a skate with adjustable size as claimed in the appended claims.